A Void the Size of the World

by Rachele Alpine

A girl must face the consequences after her actions indirectly lead to her sister’s disappearance in this haunting novel about sisterhood, tragedy, and the hole that’s left behind when we lose a loved one.

Rhylee didn’t mean to kiss her sister’s boyfriend. At least, not the first time. But it doesn’t matter, because her sister, Abby, caught them together, ran into the dark woods behind their house…and never came home.

As evidence mounts that something terrible has happened to Abby, no one wants to face the truth. Rhylee can’t bring herself to admit what she’s that she is the reason her sister ran away. Now Tommy, Abby’s boyfriend, is the prime suspect in her disappearance, and Rhylee’s world has been turned upside down. Slowly, Rhylee’s family is breaking—their lives hinging on the hope that Abby will return. Rhylee knows they need to face the truth and begin healing—but how can they, when moving on feels like a betrayal? And how do you face the guilt of wishing a person gone…when they actually disappear?

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Family, Teen, Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2017

About the author

Rachele Alpine is a lover of binge watching reality TV, dogs, knitting, gummy peaches, and lots and lots of coffee!

One of her first jobs was at a library, but it didn't last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she's a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit.

By day she's a high school English teacher, by night she's a mom and wife, and she writes during any time she can find in between!

Rachele lives with her husband and son in Cleveland, Ohio, but dreams of moving back to Boston, the city she fell in love with while attending graduate school there.

Reviews

[••Camila Roy•• · Rating 1 out of 5]

RATING: 1/5
*Contains mild spoilers*

I should’ve known this would be a mess just from the synopsis *sighs*. Why do I let myself get sucked into these overly dramatic books with one dimensional characters and no actual development? I might be doing this subconsciously just so I can rant about said books.

SYNOPSIS:A haunting novel about a girl who must face the consequences after her actions indirectly lead to her sister’s disappearance. Rhylee didn’t mean to kiss her sister’s boyfriend. At least, not the first time. But it doesn’t matter, because her sister, Abby, caught them together, ran into the dark woods behind their house…and never came home. As evidence mounts that something terrible has happened to Abby, no one wants to face the truth. Rhylee can’t bring herself to admit what she’s done: that she is the reason her sister ran away.

Let’s break down what happened:
1) Rhylee kisses Tommy, her sister’s boyfriend, and they begin sneaking around. But, wait! It’s not as bad as it sounds because Tommy was planning to break up with Abby eventually. That makes it okay, right?
2) Abby sees them kissing at a party and storms off into the woods. Tommy and Rhylee try to follow her but Abby wants to be left alone. And of course, they respect her decision and leave her in the middle of the woods. At night. Alone.
3) Abby never comes home (no surprise there).
4) Rhylee starts feeling incredibly guilty. The next 50 pages are mostly filled with self-loathing and self-reflection. But not the deep and meaningful kind, just the annoying-super-convenient kind.
5) Then, it goes from being a contemporary to being a mystery thriller with paranormal aspects. Um, what? Sorry but that switch didn´t do it for me.

There isn’t even that much to trash here. It was just really repetitive, none of the characters were interesting, and I didn’t get attached or invested in the story at all. It’s not the worst book out there but it’s definitely not good. The ratings speak for themselves.

There was one thing I did like about this: It’s great for exercising your eyes. I did at least 100 eye rolls while reading.

[Stacee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of this book until the publisher invited me to read it. I loved the premise and was excited to get to it. Sadly, I was quite disappointed.

I struggled with Rhylee. She is very selfish and it was hard to root for her. She lies during the entire story. I could almost understand not wanting to tell anyone at first, but then all of these horrible things happen to Tommy and she just keeps quiet. And then when he said he needed to leave because he was worried for his safety, she's like NO YOU CANT LEAVE ME. Oh, but she's completely pushed him away and is ignoring him. For me, that was unforgivable

Plot wise, it was pretty bland and got monotonous quickly. I loved the idea of Abby disappearing after a fight and I couldn't wait to find out what happened...except nothing was explained. There are hints of a maybe suicide and or a maybe accident and it's never cleared up. Plus there are several things introduced {Abby's note to Tommy, the person Rhylee chased in the dark, the ruined posters in her room} that just seemed to fade away without clarity.

Overall, it had a lot of potential, but it was lacking a certain sort of tension I was expecting. Something kept me reading, but I couldn't tell you what it was.

**Huge thanks to Simon Pulse for the invitation to read this title**

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one goes like this: 50 pages of the main character whining and the same things happening over and over again, then 2 pages with a mysterious, possibly paranormal plot development, then back to the whining for another 50 pages, mystery for 2, etc. Then it ends. Oh, and none of the paranormal stuff is ever resolved and the main character doesn’t seem to care.

[Kelsey Schulz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading time: 3 days. 

Star Rating: 2 stars

I really wanted to like this book. I did. But it was rough. The plot sounded good enough and the small synopsis on the jacket made it mysterious enough that I wanted to know what happened. 

A Void the Size of the World is about a girl named Rhylee, who has lived her life in her sister, Abby's, shadow. Abby is a track star and basically the star of the town. And then she disappears, because of Rhylee.

Rhylee kissed her sister's boyfriend, Tommy, who is also Rhylee's childhood friend and she's been in love with him for most of their friendship. However, he dates her sister after Rhylee rejects him.

The high school is at this bonfire in the woods somewhere and Tommy and Rhylee end up kissing for the second time, but this time Abby catches them. After a short fight with them, she runs into the woods and disappears. 

That's basically the book right there. A girl disappears and never comes back. The biggest problem I had with this book, is there is absolutely no closure. Abby disappears, her family crumbles and loses who they are as they look for and mourn Abby. But, that's all. They never find out what exactly happened to Abby and why she never came back. 

The police find a sweatshirt in the woods she ran into, footprints by the side of the river that matched a shoe at the bottom of the lake they searched later. So, her family as well as the cops assume she fell and ended up in the lake? 

And Rhylee basically lies her way through the whole. damn. book. Neither she or Tommy told the cops about why Abby ran off into the woods. Even when Tommy is blamed for what happened to Abby and the whole school turns against him, Rhylee says nothing. She keeps lying and feeling sorry for herself, because she blames herself for what happened to her sister. It's hard to root for her when she just keeps on lying to literally everyone she knows and shuts them all out, even Tommy. And then when he wants to leave to get away from it all, she has the audacity to beg him to stay. 

And then there's crop circles that show up, making it seem that something paranormal happened to Abby, which later you find out was just her cross-country team trying to make some kind of tribute to her. But, after they show up, weird things happen to Rhylee where she's chasing figures in the dark and posters from her wall are torn down that are again, unexplained and completely unresolved. 

I kept reading this book because I just wanted to find out what the hell happened to Abby and in hope she would make it home, but no. No closure. No happy ending. Absolutely no satisfaction. Nothing. Just a completely open ending where Abby's family all of the sudden turns everything around in the last chapter and accepts the fact that she's not coming back after 83 chapters of denial.

That's the other thing I will vent about. There's 84 chapters in this book. There's not even 400 pages, and there's 84 chapters. I just thought that it was so excessive and the chapters were so short, it became annoying. At first, I liked the fact the chapters were short, because I felt like I was making my way through the book pretty quickly, but it got old fast. Some chapters were literally a paragraph and a lot of them were choppy. 

There was a lot of repetitiveness to the writing as well, which I did not take into consideration for the rating, but I will still talk about it. Lots of scenes were repeated where Rhylee felt sorry for herself and wouldn't stop blaming herself for what happened to her sister. Scenes and lines were repeated throughout the whole book. There were sentences almost word for word that were repeated. It would have been a little better if they were a few chapters apart (which, in this case, could have been like five pages), but they were two pages apart, the exact same sentence and phrasing, word for word. I know it's difficult to write, but that shouldn't happen with any book. That's just my opinion though, which is why I didn't reflect it in my rating, just my review. 

Anyway, if you want to be frustrated, annoyed and completely unsatisfied, this is the book for you.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I read an ARC of this through my work**

*potential but not detailed spoilers ahead*

2.5 stars? I was super hooked on this book in the middle, when it was taking on a thrillery vaguely sci-fi turn, the way Shaun David Hutchinson writes. As things began to wrap up, I was a bit let down and disappointed. I also feel like a lot of things were not followed up on and should have been concluded or revealed. Little-ish things, but noticeable enough for me to want answers, such as the note Abby wrote for Tommy, or an explanation for what Rhylie was witnessing with her own eyes and ears around their home. It's entirely possible that this is touched upon in the final version, please keep in mind I am reviewing based on the ARC.

Regardless of the ending, I was invested with the story, particularly the middle. It's a good mystery story, but it doesn't really leave me feeling satisfied.

[Alayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book in one night because I was so desperate for the satisfaction of knowing what the hell was going on.... and i didn’t get that. As most people mentioned, there’s a lot of things that go without resolution like Abby’s dark note to Tommy and the possible paranormal activity. I thought the note might’ve come into play if we found out Abby’s death was a suicide, but even her death was left without closure. We’re just supposed to assume she slipped in. With the paranormal activity, only the crop circles were resolved by the cross country team which I felt was kind of a boring excuse for those. I’d really like to have my questions answered but I feel like that won’t ever happen. I did like the book and I’m happy to have read it, but it could’ve been a lot better!

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, I wanted to like this so much more than I did.

As a mom, this should have ripped me apart on so many levels. It didn't.

As a sister and friend, this should have broken my heart. It didn't.

As a human being, I should have felt compelled to read, to get to the end. Instead, I felt like skimming to hurry it along.

The pacing was off and the way Rhylee's guilt was manifested seemed off and I simply didn't appreciate the storyline regarding the Circles.

And so: The dreaded two star review it is.

[Stephanie Faris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Void the Size of the World introduces us to Rhylee, a girl who has always lived in the shadow of her perfect sister, Abby. The icing on the cake, though, was when Abby ended up with the guy Rhylee always wanted. A stolen moment with Rhylee convinces him to break up with her sister, who disappears the same night. The haunting mystery of what happened to her, combined with Rhylee's ongoing guilt, makes this such a suspenseful read. Most of all, though, Rachele's writing just carries you to the end. You won't be able to put this one down!

[Thasvini Muraly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Void the Size of the World by Rachel Alpine is a compelling young adult novel that explores the ripple effects of one significant mistake. The story follows the protagonist, who is grappling with the aftermath of a choice that has drastically altered the course of her life. The novel delves into themes of guilt, loss, and the haunting consequences of that one fateful decision.

The book also has an intriguing paranormal element woven into the narrative, adding an eerie layer to the protagonist's emotional journey. As she faces the consequences of her actions, she starts to experience strange and unexplainable occurrences, which deepen her understanding of her mistake and force her to confront her own fears and regrets. In A Void the Size of the World, Alpine beautifully captures the complexity of living with guilt and the struggle for redemption, all while blending in elements of the supernatural to heighten the tension and emotional stakes.

[Taylor Manookian · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book. I did not like at all. sorry guys
so basically the entire story is "is abby coming home? NO. i owe it to her this.. i owe it to her that.. its all my fault.. i can't be her.. I CANT BE WITH TOMMY.." etc. so that was annoying. felt like book should've ended at maybe page 50. its super repetitive.
the whole thing with tommy is DUMB. like ??? HE WANTS TO BE WITH YOU. YOU WANT TO BE WITH HIM. THERE IS LITERALLY NO ONE STOPPING IT. THE ONLY PERSON WHO WOULD'VE STOPPED IT IS NOW REMOVED FROM YOUR LIFE. J U S T GO F O R IT J E S US CH RI S T but noooo she was like ohh i cant be with tommy even though i really want to. OH BOO HOO. IF YOU REALLY DID WANT TO YOU WOULD. sorry i could rant about that for a long time. (maybe its just because the easiest way to check how many days i've been single is to google "how many days have i been alive" so maybe im just salty that she had a PERFECT OPPORTUNITY and WASTED IT COMPLETELY. like bruh. not all of us get that you better take advantage of it while you can. AND SHE DIDNT. BRUHUHUHUH
then there was the whole paranormal aspect where she saw abby in the woods or on the lawn or IN HER ROOM or in abby's room when the door was locked and when all the posters were ripped off the wall! THAT NEVER GETS EXPLAINED. its like a 2 page chapter on actual good creepy stuff and then they never go back to it again. that was annoying
literally the entire book is just the main whining about most easily fixable * TOMMY * problems. LEMME JUST KEEP RANTING ON THAT. S HE PUSHED HIM AWAY when they needed each other most and for NO REASON she was like you know what would be a good idea? IGNORING THE FUCK OUT OF TOMMY. bRUHHHH. THAT MAKES ME SO MAD.
other thing that they never explained?? that note that abby was writing to tommy where it was like you saved me whatever. THEY NEVER EXPLAIN THAT EITHER they never go back to it. like bruhh
bonus tommy was like dude i gotta skip town or these people will kill me and rhylee was like NOO YOU CANT LEAVE ME like no you dont deserve to say that you were the one who told him to say away from you like 50 times what are you doing sCRUBBBBB
also rip collin hope you like your life of being a neglected child
also the chapters are 2 pages long but i kind of liked that aspect sometimes
read in 5 days but was also tempted to just stop and not finish many times

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say about this book?... It did not turn out like I excepted. In my mind, it took a hard left fast. I was thinking it would be like 'Dangerous Girls' or similar. Where the boyfriend or a friend did end up killing her. But all this paranormal and sic-fi stuff, was not excepted.
Not knowing what happened to Abby, is not a surprise. That happens a lot. Families are left without answers all the time. That didn't bother me, I'm bothered by not knowing what was going on with Rhylee and the nights of someone standing outside her window shining a light into her room. Or her sisters pictures being ripped off the wall. I don't understand any of that. And it wasn't ever explained. At least she explained the circles in the field next to the Towers house, Abby's friends made them in tribute to her. But the other stuff never was explained and I'm still reeling from it and want to know what the heck it all meant.
In the end, this book was not what I was thinking it would be.

[Nuzaifa]

Having absolutely LOVED Rachele Alpine's CANARY, I cannot wait for her upcoming YA novel! DAT SYNOPSIS THO. 2017 why you so far away?!!



was one of the most under-rated novels and easily one of favorite reads of 2013.

Read my full review of Rachele Alpine's CANARY here.

[Sometimes IRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book under a drug induced haze thanks to a bout of tonsillitis. However, now that the haze has lifted, I don’t remember much of what I read. I wonder if I can’t access the memory since my state of mind was altered during the encoding or whether it wasn’t even encoded to begin with. Whatever it is, take my subsequent thoughts with a massive pinch of salt!

A Void the Size of the World by Rachele Alpine follows Rhylee as she makes some phenomenal mistakes typical of the teenage years. What follows is a tragedy that Rhylee cannot help but feel responsible for. Still, life goes on and she and her family and community find a way to work through their grief.

This is distinctly a young adult read, what with the formulaic short chapters, hyper focus on the self, and impulsive and emotional characters. The structure makes for an easy read because the repeated point-emotion-impact sentence format of the chapters really guided the mind through the book. I didn’t find it too repetitive but that might have been because of above mentioned haze. Who knows how I’ll feel about it if I had read it now.

I wasn’t a fan of all the characters because of their impulsivity and poor decision making. Yet, it felt very realistic, to have such behavior from the teenagers and the grief stricken adults. We can’t think clearly either way.

I did, however, appreciate how Alpine navigated the difficult topic of grief and how each person may have a different way of approaching it. There are those who self-flagellate and others who seek comfort from blind pursuit. There really is no right way and there are repercussions from each way. The most anyone can do, is to put one foot in front of the other, and keep living and loving the way they can.

Diversity meter:
-

[Abby G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this is less than a day and I expected more out of it. It’s about this girl whose sister goes missing and doesn’t come back and is about how the sister tries to deal with the grief and guilt since she thinks she made her sister go away. In the end you don’t find out what happens to the sister in a complete sense. They just kind of give up hope and one to terms with the fact that she might have drowned in this river. It was also very predictable at times, which in my opinion makes it a bad book. Also there were some inconsistencies within the book about dates and times. Example: Rhylee marks in an agenda that her sister had been gone for 14 days but a few pages before that she says that it’s been three weeks since her sister disappeared. I’m not great at math but I don’t remember 3 weeks= 14 days. It’s really hard to like the main character as well. She is very surface level throughout the entire book and doesn’t gain any personality throughout the book. Also the other characters like her mom, dad, and brother Collin were so annoying. Part of the time the mother was absent (mentally, due to losing a daughter) but to me it just seemed like she was poorly written in. I will say though that the author writes Rhylee as the perfect middle child who lives in their older siblings shadow. I know what that’s like to always be compared to them and be constantly belittled for not being like them. I think that was the most well written part of the book, when Rhylee was being ignored.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book simultaneously exceeded my expectations and fell short of them.

I went into this book knowing that it was about Abby's disappearance, but I assumed that it would turn into a romance. And it didn't. Yes, there was romance involved, but it was never Rhylee's main focus. Her attention was on her sister and keeping h r family from completely falling apart. That was where it exceeded my expectations.

On the con side, I feel as though the grief of loss was, in a sense, subdued. I was reading through the other reviews for this book and one said, something along the lines of "as a daughter, friend, and sister, this didn't break my heart like I feel it should have." And I feel like this pretty much encompasses my feelings.

Overall, it wasn't the best, but it also wasn't the worst. The only other thing I would like to add is that I feel like the ending was a let down. The book was building tension, and then all of a sudden, she just decides to leave, and we don't really find out what really happened to her sister or her family. For that reason I hope there is a sequel so that things can be cleared up.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Rhylee has always loved the boy next door. He was the only thing that she could claim as hers, outside the shadow of her perfect sister, Abby. However, because Rhylee wasn't quick enough to act, Abby claimed Tommy as her boyfriend. The two are the perfect popular couple, but Rhylee and Tommy have feelings for each other. When Abby catches Rhylee and Tommy kissing, she disappears. The town is in an uproar looking for their perfect kid. People are desperate for miracles, but Rhylee is desperate to get rid of the guilt she feels about her sister's disappearance.

This was a standard teen drama. It had some weird twists with things like crop circles and potential supernatural sightings. I think the emotional fallout and lies needed to be better explored and addressed, but overall it was an interesting quick read.

[Lilly Ervin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I though this book was gonna be a romance with a little thriller. This, was not that. It was a thriller with the tiniest bit of romance, which was quite boring. Yes, I liked this book and the characters but I have more questions than reasons I like it. One question is, what visited Rhylee's room while she was sleeping?? And we never found out more from that boy at the college! Also, did Abby actually die, or did she run away? The dude living in the woods heard screaming all night and did see footprints by the shore, we have the evidence she died but we also have evidence she didn't, because multiple times in the book where their points that people claimed to see her. Also, why did Rachele spend time writing about the boy from college if he was never gonna be visited again? Even after complaining about this book, I can't say that I didn't actually like it. All in all, okay book.

[The Book Addict · Rating 2 out of 5]

"in my version, when abby fell into the water, she kicked off her shoes and striped off the clothes that were heavy and pulling her down. she swam to the surface and climbed out, running barefoot all the way back home to us, and I was there waiting. and tommy never came between us again. there was only my sister and me, and everything was the way it used to be."

T H O U G H T S:

a girl has gone missing. did she run away? was she kidnapped? was she killed? between the mystery of what happened and her sister's guilt, the narrative is fraught with tension and suspense. the ending was unexpected: i still don't know if i'm disappointed or proud.

R A T I N G:

plot // 3
pacing // 2
language // 4
story world // 3
protagonist // 4
antagonist // 2
secondary characters // 2

[Tedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure what to think about this book.

It uses crop circles as a plot device.

Ultimately, it is a story about grief, and accepting that you can continue to be alive even when someone that you love is not.

But I almost feel like it was trying to do too many things: The crop circles, Rhylee blaming herself for the accident, Rhylee kind of trying to be her sister for awhile, Rhylee not letting herself continue living and being happy.

It was not a bad book, but I think it would have been a better book if it had focused on one of those things instead of all of them and really got into the heart of it. Sometimes fiction is weird in that if it tries too hard to mimic real life, it begins to feel not true. And that's kind of how this book feels.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I’m with a lot of reviewers on this one.. whiny Rhylee throughout the whole book is suuuper annoying. But so is her sad excuse of a mom. I liked Tommy and her brother Colin best! The book really shows how grief can hit a town. But I guess I had higher hopes for this book. I was hoping it was going to be one of those books where she wasn’t really dead. Like maybe she was hiding or kidnapped or something suspenseful. But noope it just flopped. This really is just a book of whining and grief and the throwing in a weird supernatural thing. Not my kind of book. Because I kept reading hoping she was alive. Waste. Couldn’t of put this book in about 50-100 pages without the pointless stuff!

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read, read, read, read!!! I finished this book in two days because I could NOT put the book down. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time just wanting to know what happened to Abby and what will happen to Rhylee.

"I wasn't naive enough to think gossip just disappeared. It rose and fell like waves, some days crashing down on you so hard it was almost impossible to stay on your feet and other times a gentle lull that tricked you into believing everyone had moved on to something new" (Alpine 216).

[Laurel Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those books where I finished reading it and was upset to have wasted a whole day on it. I am not a stranger to sad books and I even quite enjoy them, but this one just did not appeal to me. I kept thinking that there would be a twist in the plot and it would pick up, but it never really did. There were also several interesting things that happened in the middle of the book that were never explained or resolved and needed to be explained for how the book ended... It was just a super depressing read that didn’t really leave me with all that much to take away at the end.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about this book at all. I didn't like the cheating. I noticed that she became more like her sister after Abby left. I noticed that there was sci fi in this book, but there really no answer of why her sister left. I wanted more closure of why she left. But I also understand that life is like this book. I didn't like the cheating and not telling the truth. This book was okay, but I wanted more family interaction.

[Bickering Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a more in-depth review watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzfX...

2.5 Rating: This book had a decent premise however the character development and the way the plot unfolds didn't work. The book works as a very basic realistic fiction however readers may have problems with the lack of resolution.

We received eARCs of this book from the publishers through Edelweiss in exchange for honest reviews,

[Samantha Montes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book let me down so much. Who was in her room??? Who was in the woods with the flashlight? Not to mention, what happened to Abby??? I'm glad Ryhlee found herself and all that but I think we can all agree, we needed to know what happened to Abby. It definitely held my attention but to mention that someone was in her room and Abbys room and not even touch on that again just blows.

[Caleb V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really good because it does a really good way of describing the conditions and mindsets of the characters. And it really puts you in their shoes. Another thing i liked about it was the ending because i took a brake from the book for a month but when i came back it got really good.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Alpine's work. Her characters are well developed and the plots keep me guessing until the end. She is able to take tough teen issues and make them accessible to all ages. I feel their pain and joy while I have hope for their futures.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story started out really good and went downhill from there. By the end of the story I just wanted it to be over. I kept waiting for a cool twist that never came. Plus, there were many spelling and grammar mistakes, which I couldn't believe would be allowed in a published book.

[Yveloute Rea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. I felt every emotion that Rhylee, her family, and Tommy went through and I could relate to all the characters even Abby. This was an exceptional book and strongly encourage and suggest reading it!!!!!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many open ends and unanswered questions.

Was it actually paranormal activity?
Why were there so many Abby sightings?
What actually happened to Abby?

I’m left feeling unsatisfied with this one, but at the same time, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the read. I just wish I had more answers.